From NHL player to fashion runways

From NHL player to fitness business developer to walking the fashion runways of London and New York, Wes Myron has made quite the name for himself – and there’s more to come.

Hockey fans know Wes Myron from his years playing with The Victoria Grizzlies, The Kalamazoo Wings, and The Tulsa Oilers from 2009-2012. Myron, who was born in Victoria B.C., harbored dreams of playing hockey professionally since childhood.

“I grew up in Canada playing hockey just like every other guy I knew, and my dreams and my aspirations were to play at the highest level,” Myron tells The Record. That level, of course, was to play in the NHL. In 2012, that dream became a reality when he was drafted into the Vancouver Canucks.

Unfortunately, Myron sustained several injuries – ones which he describes as “nasty.” These injuries ended his dream of playing permanently for the NHL in 2015. Being injured and no longer able to play the sport he loved, Myron admits that period was his lowest point. “‘I was in kind of a dark place in trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. I thought ‘how do I pick myself back up again?’” he confesses. Drawing back on his experiences from spending time in the weight room, learning to eat and sleep properly, Myron decided that his path forward was in helping others get their lives on track by training. He admits the transition to this was a “natural” one.

Myron created Elite Performance Lifestyle – a program which incorporates what he calls the “four building blocks” of living a healthy lifestyle: eating right, sleeping right, training and motivation. These are the blocks Myron uses with his clients. Myron developed the program after meeting with sleep-doctors and nutritionists that he’s met over the course of his travels.

He admits that there were obstacles, mostly stemming from his injuries. “Those were the biggest obstacles for me when I was playing hockey and afterwards,” Myron said. “I was one of the younger hockey players attempting to branch out and do something else – specifically creating a company at such a young age. learning that on-the-fly has been a bit of an obstacle. But it’s a good experience for me as I’m able to apply my own techniques that I talk about in my program.”

Myron insists that despite those obstacles, he gives whatever he’s working on his undivided focus whether it be growing his brand – or modeling.

As to how he got into that glamorous world, Myron says it was purely by chance. “I was posting on my Instagram, promoting my brand when I was contacted by a company called International Fashion Show who were looking for fresh new faces to headline shows around the world,” he explains. Myron, who had previously done some sports modeling, figured this would be a good way to gain publicity for his business. “I told them, sure, include me in your list,” he recalls. It was a few months before they responded. “They said ‘hey, you’ve reached the top 25 models from our celebrity judging panel,”’ with award-winning fashion TV presenter and columnist, Naomi Isted as head judge. Then he waited again.

“They asked me for use of my pictures and that got in the news, so I was building some traction,” he recalls.

He was growing excited when one day they told him he was in the top ten and after that – they told him that he had placed first as the modeling industry’s ‘Next Big Thing 2018’. In May, Myron was flown to London where he walked in his first ever runway show. Since then, he has spent time in New York meeting with other agencies.

“What I was trying to do originally was just promote the way I live which was eating properly and sleeping right and training. That’s just a natural transition for me moving forward as a model – just being able to do those kinds of campaigns whether it be for sportswear, training, eating right as well as the fashion stuff,” Myron said.

He admits that learning the business aspect of forming a company while modeling across the globe can be challenging, but he uses these challenges to relate to others.

“I’ve definitely been learning on-the-fly,” he admits. “It’s a great way to apply my own program to my own life and I’m able to relate to people that way because they’re trying to eat, sleep and train and get healthy and I’m trying to grow a business and travel the world and model.” Myron uses what he’s learned to stay rooted while he ticks off his successes along the way. “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” Myron admits of the past year. “But it’s been really fun.”